Tablet of Content
- Intro
- You bet your limited resources
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- My Dad inheritance has gone
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- Four consecutive businesses failures
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- What does the feel like to not pass a trivial driver’s license test?
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- Dream job rejection
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- An early setback writing career
- Ending Thoughts
Unfortunately, is one of the last word I want to come across. I am really scared of. You might be, too.
Whenever I read or listen to it, I am scared as hell. I don't want to continue. I know exactly what comes next.
Rejections and failures hurt as hell. They kill any tiny hope and confidence you had in yourself.
They blank out everything you had in mind before trying it. Not only that, but they also throw you to a dark zone.
I have been in that blackness zone countless time.
Being rejected trying to get hired for my dream job and to get a Canadian visa hurt.
That’s just a little part of my rejections queue.
I have also failed more than four times trying to become an entrepreneur, I failed ridiculously. I lost a lot of money that it was never mine, it was all loans.
This caused a snowball effect in debts, a burden I carried for several years.
You bet your limited resources
Sometimes a failure was just the result of a big bet where you offered your limited resources to get nothing.
In almost all the failures listed here, that was the case.
I betted my limited resources aiming to get something bigger than me, a big rock hit on my face and then thrown me to square zero, though.
Let’s go straight to the five failures that boosted my career and life and helped to become a better self.
1. My Dad inheritance has gone
My Dad got through twelve years of a civil war. He suffered a lot.
He worked freaking hard for several years to buy a small piece of land that later would be the land where my dreams as an entrepreneur started.
And just a few years later, it turned into my inheritance from my Dad.
Yet, I lost it in a blink of an eye. Sadly.
At first, when I bet on that move, I used to argue that it was worth it even if ending up into a big loss.
Although, deep in myself, I didn't visualize a rejection or loss. I was fully convinced that my dreams would come true. It wasn't.
It hurt. I broke my heart thinking how hard my Dad had to work to get it.
Takeaway
Even though this was a big loss financially, there are two crucial things that shaped my life
- I can speak out loud and say I tried it. I have no regrets. I did not paralyze but act trying to accomplish my dreams.
- This reminded me that the end justifies the means, at first I felt bad, but then I let it go.
2. Four consecutive businesses failures
A few years back I was running three small businesses — a small fast-food restaurant, a small consultancy, and training agency, and a small retail business and a fourth one that never took off.
No doubt, I just was a novice teenager with an entrepreneur’s dream.
Under a survival mode, any business seems a good idea to try it without thinking too much.
To put food on my family’s table was an everyday mission.
All these businesses weren't bootstrapped. I got loans to get started.
I wanted to keep them all alive at all cost. I was using part of my paycheck to cover and make ends of meet.
I didn’t realize I was falling apart financially. I was getting into debt slowly without noticing.
I did compromise my financial future too early. I carried this burden for several years.
I still feel its effects.
3. What does the feel like to not pass a trivial driver’s license test?
When you come from or have reached a certain grade of competitiveness and your personal or professional life, passing a trivial driver’s license road test should be an easy-peasy job. Isn't it?
It seems, it was not my case, even when in school and college I stood out as the select best grades students list and at work I was often awarded for a great performance.
I didn’t pass the driver’s license road test the first time.
And I was about to fail on a second attempt.
What was my mistake?
I was run a red light. Sorry, my nerves played against me.
Nerves handling is a great skill we should learn early on in our lives.
I felt shame. But I knew it, I should try it as many times as needed.
Takeaways
- Get courage to try those scariest things, even when you don't feel fully prepared enough. Before the first attempt, I have driven a car just a few times. No training per se.
- There are something stuff that are wants and other needs. Approach to reach both if that add meaning to your life.
4. Dream job rejection
I am a software engineer now.
Yet before that I wore several hats. I was a baker working on a small bakery, just to mention one of those hats.
To be where I am at now, it had to pass several years and countless job rejections of my dream jobs.
There are a few things when you are rejected that might change how you cope to it. This varies from person to person.
If you are rejected, but that doesn’t impact your current life in terms of money, it is way easier to let it go and move on.
Yet, when you are rejected experiencing a tough financial time and your family need food on the table, things change dramatically.
I was at that latter one. It’s freaking hurt.
Takeaways
- Keep learning. But most importantly, look for effective ways of learning. I had to take a course of learning how to learn.
- Look for a mentor.
- Take any single minute of your free time and devote time to craft your skills.
5. An early setback writing career
I am not a professional writer, but I would like to share the story that mark a before and after in my writing career.
When in school I didn't have the chance to get into writing nor in college to have the chance and realize if writing was my thing.
But when I knew Medium.com I started to publish pieces, regularly. Most of them were programming-related.
So I built the writing skills. I had polished it to a reasonably good point.
My confidence was high up, but not ready to resist a big hit.
I had worked hard on a masterpiece, I had put my heart and soul on it.
In the end I got the email that said “Thanks for your submission, unfortunately”.
Again the word unfortunately took over my mind.
Self-doubts became my whole world. I am not good enough at this, writing is not my stuff, I thought.
Why they rejected the piece that has a great quality, message and actionable items. I didn't get it.
What I get was that as all in life, you need to embrace rejections because is what keep you awake and aware that’s there’s will be always room to be better.
Ending Thoughts
Failures are part of the journey.
They are a needed evil to reach at a peak. There’s no other way.
There are a lot of things that surface on your mind just after failing.
An internal debate and battle begin in your mind.
You begin to doubt your skills, you start to believe you are not good enough yet. Self-doubts and fears take hold on you.
That moment is super especial and a key to your success. You have two options: embrace it or let it put you down.
Even the strongest and experienced people will feel something like. I am not good enough, why I was rejected if I have experience on this?
The ability to let bad things go is not an easy piece of cake. It takes time to digest it, though.
Failures and rejections will set you at point zero.
Start again over and over is a skill that you should have as a deliberate purpose. The clearer you are why you are going to try it again, the more strong you will be to take the action and go for it.